


lord, let us pray

by sabinelagrande



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Champions (Critical Role), Devotion, F/M, Minor Scanlan Shorthalt/Pike Trickfoot, Post-Campaign 1 (Critical Role), Religion, Ritual Public Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-24 18:01:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14360709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sabinelagrande/pseuds/sabinelagrande
Summary: There is a certain ceremony undertaken by the Dawnfather's Champion, because of course there is.





	lord, let us pray

**Author's Note:**

> It's possible Keeper Yennen changed religions because of DM error, but just go with it.

Vex turns around, and three months have passed, months of peace and prosperity. Things are progressing in Whitestone; Vex's team of rangers is steadily improving, Percy has begun some grand project with a lot of gears in it that Vex only sort of understands the shape of, and while Vex is not yet pregnant, they've started working on it with quite some intent. She hopes it'll happen soon, but she's still struck by the fact that there's time now, even if it doesn't happen right away.

And then Percy approaches her one night, with a look that makes Vex instantly suspicious.

"What have you done?" she asks.

"Me?" Percy says, failing to look innocent. "I haven't done anything. I just have something to discuss with you, that's all."

"And you don't know if I'm going to like it," she says.

"That part I'll own up to," he says.

She waves a hand at him. "Out with it, then."

"I know your experience with the Dawnfather is more practical than theoretical, but there are some things I think you need to know, both as his Champion and as a noble of Whitestone," he says, and it sounds like he rehearsed it.

"I am always more than happy to learn, darling," she says. She's getting even more suspicious, because while Percy likes the history of Whitestone, he's not so much into the religious parts.

He still has the look of someone about to give a lecture as he continues. "The Dawnfather is, among other things, a god of the harvest, renewal, and, well." He clears his throat. "Fertility."

"The Dawnfather must get up to some kinky shit if it makes you blush," she says with a grin.

"Honest answer?" Percy says. "He does."

"And it involves Whitestone's nobility?" she says warily.

"But his Champion most of all," he says.

Vex frowns. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Partly because I thought we wouldn't live to see it," he says, which is fair, "and partly because I prefer not to think about my ancestors in flagrante on an altar."

She pulls back. "Wait, _what?_ "

He looks sheepish. "I'm getting ahead of myself."

"By a few fucking steps," she says.

"There is a ceremony," he says. "It involves the Champion and a participant of their choice, and it takes place on the altar in the center of the temple of the Dawnfather."

"Where they fuck," Vex says.

"Um," Percy says. "Yes." Seeing her expression, he hastily adds, "There's also some business with incense and fresh fruits," like that's going to make it better.

"I'm still trying to process this, darling," she says. "You want to get up in front of all of Whitestone and make the beast with two backs?"

"That's not quite how I would have put it," he says. "We really should have done this much sooner, but we'll just have to ride the wave of goodwill that we have from defeating Vecna."

Vex rubs her forehead. "Please walk me through it before I say no."

"It hasn't been done for a very long time, not since the Fifth Star," Percy says. "There may be an elf or archdruid who remembers what happened, and there are the official records, but we have a bit of leeway in how the ceremony itself is performed." He adjusts his glasses. "But there is a benediction from the priest, the blessing of the participants, and then the, ah, coupling."

"And everyone goes home having seen what nobility is like in the sack," she says.

"Technically, it's just what they're like on an altar," he says.

"What happens if the Champion is gay?" Vex asks.

Percy shrugs. "It's ceremonial, not literal. From what I understand, one of the Olivers gave a rousing performance with the captain of the Paleguard, and the Dawnfather seemed to approve."

"And what happens if I won't do it?" she presses.

Percy looks slightly offended. "No one is going to force you, least of all me," he says. "And no one can take the title of Champion from you. That's a pact you made with the Dawnfather. If he revokes it because you didn't do this, that's his prerogative, but if you want my honest opinion, I don't think he would."

"Why would you even consider going along with this?" she asks. "You hate religiosity."

"I can't say that I hate the Dawnfather," he says. "Worship is not for me, but if it brings comfort to the people I've been entrusted with, I'm not going to rip that out from under them."

Vex narrows her eyes. "You think it's funny."

"I think it's fucking hilarious," Percy says, and his neutral expression drops into a smirk. "I really do consider it part of my job to grin and bear it where the Dawnfather is concerned, but also the whole ritual is so preposterous that I can't help but want to say I did it."

"I should pick Jarett just to spite you," she says.

"You had plenty of time to sleep with Jarett before we got married," he says. "It's not my fault if you missed your window. Also, it technically has to be a native of Whitestone, so Jarett is off the table anyway."

"I guess I'm stuck with you, then," she says with an exaggerated sigh.

"So you're considering it?" he says.

"I'm not rejecting it out of hand, which is a surprise," she says. "I mean, it is very funny."

"I thought you'd agree," he says. "I'm sure it's also very meaningful on a religious level, and it's part of Whitestone's tradition-"

"But you want to do it for the story," she says. She hesitates. "If I say yes now, can it be undone?"

"Not as easily as if you say no, but we'll find a way if it comes to that," Percy says.

Vex takes a breath, letting it out slowly. "I'll do it," she says, and if asked, she couldn't articulate why, even if Percy might put it together if she gave him all the pieces. "Unless this has all been an elaborate hoax, which I am not ruling out."

"I couldn't dream this one up," he says. "Plus there's documentation."

"I want to see it," she says. "It might do me some good to know why I've agreed to this."

"Of course," he says, bending to kiss her on the forehead. "The ideal time to do it will be about two weeks from now."

"Did you ask me this late so I wouldn't have time to reconsider?" Vex asks.

"I'd read about it, but I've only known it was actually in the offing for about three days," he says, "after a very enlightening conversation with Keeper Yennen."

"That sounds deeply awkward," she says.

"He was nothing but businesslike, so all the awkwardness came from me," he says.

"That doesn't surprise me," she says. "Tomorrow, I want to go over the documents and speak with Keeper Yennen myself."

"At dawn, we plan," Percy says. He puts his hands on Vex's hips. "Tonight, perhaps we should rehearse."

"You're awful," Vex says, but she doesn't say no.

\--

Things go very quickly after that. All the evidence suggests that Percy is not lying, and Vex pores over it, trying to glean anything she can about what is required of her. Keeper Yennen is just as businesslike as Percy said, and Vex's head spins with all of it, this surreal situation being handled so matter-of-factly.

Choosing the guest list for the ceremony is a bizarre process; luckily, it's not necessary to reach out to places like Syngorn that they have diplomatic arrangements with, since the event is specific to Whitestone. Cassandra does the actual drafting of the list, such a thing being in her wheelhouse more so than Vex's. When she asks Vex for input, Vex accidentally says what's on her mind instead of thinking it through. 

"We have to invite the rest of Vox Machina," she says. "I can't do this alone."

Cassandra raises an eyebrow. "I'm not going to stop you," she says. "I just wonder if this is a thing you want your friends to watch you do."

"They've all seen me and Percy die more than once," Vex says. "Watching us go at it is an improvement."

"If you're sure," Cassandra says, and she adds four more names to her list.

The time until the ceremony passes with alacrity, and before Vex is really prepared, she's getting the castle ready for guests. Scanlan arrives first, in the company of Grog and Pike, and something is right about the way that Scanlan has his arm around Pike's waist. Vex knew there was always a part of Pike that wanted to say yes, a thing Pike confessed to her in hushed tones long ago, in the vulnerable quiet of a night's watch. Pike was pulled in too many directions then, but things are different now. It still shocks Vex sometimes that their lives are unfolding, that the world didn't end, that they're being allowed to live on and just be people.

People who sometimes have to do fertility rituals, but stranger things have happened.

"Kaylie sends her regrets, but the academy is taking up her time," Scanlan tells them. "For the record, I don't regret that Kaylie isn't here for this. It's not a bonding experience we need to have."

"Perfectly fair," Vex says.

"I always hoped we'd come out here one day after everything was over and watch you get married," Pike says. 

"I did not picture coming out here to watch you get down," Scanlan says.

"There's going to be feasting after the ceremony," Percy says. "That way, we didn't have to do it twice."

"You're awfully quiet, Grog," Vex says. He's been wearing a wounded look this whole time, and she knows he's no good at camouflaging his feelings.

"Can I talk to you?" Grog mutters. "Alone?"

"Of course, dear," Vex says in a placating tone, hooking her arm through his and leading him a distance away, not looking back to see Pike, Scanlan, or Percy's reactions. "What's wrong?" she says, once they're out of earshot.

Grog looks away from her. "I thought we had something special," he says.

Vex frowns. "You'll always be special to me, Grog. You know that."

"Yeah, but-" He sighs. "It meant something when you showed me your titties, and now everyone's gonna get to see."

"Oh, Grog," she says, trying not to laugh when he seems genuinely distraught. She looks both ways quickly. "Come with me."

Grog looks confused but lets her lead him away, down the hall and into a little-used alcove. "What's this about?" he asks.

"You can touch one tit," Vex says. "Over the shirt, and no squeezing. You'd be joining a very rare, very special few who've been given the privilege."

"Really?" he says, looking excited. He frowns. "What if Percy finds out?"

"I intend to tell him," she says, because Percy will find the whole matter uproariously funny and not be particularly bothered by a quick grope between friends. "Now choose one."

Grog carefully studies her chest, looking between her breasts before choosing the slightly larger of the two. He flexes his fingers before reaching out and cupping it, his hand big enough to encompass it entirely. He holds it for a long moment but, as requested, doesn't squeeze. Finally he takes his hand away, looking satisfied.

"Thank you," Grog says.

"Remember that I did it because you're special to me," Vex says. "I may be getting them out in front of the Dawnfather and everyone, but you got to cop a feel. Vanishingly few people can say that."

"I'll remember," he promises.

"And don't tell Scanlan," she says. "I don't need him thinking I'm just handing it out."

"It's a secret," he says in a whisper, or as close as he gets to one, which is not very close.

Grog and the gnomes are there for a few days before Keyleth arrives. She comes alone, only a day before the ceremony. She's fully arrayed in her Ashari regalia, and it doesn't strike Vex until then that this probably counts as a diplomatic visit for her. She usually sneaks in when she comes, popping out of the Sun Tree without much warning, but this is so much more public of an event, the Voice of the Tempest being received by Whitestone at the steps of the castle. She looks tired, and even though Vex knows it's basically impossible, she'd swear Keyleth looks years older too.

"Kiki, darling," Vex says, putting her hands on Keyleth's waist, a deliberate piece of informality to set her at ease.

It works; Keyleth's face brightens immediately. "Vex," she says, the Spire pressing into Vex's back as Keyleth wraps her up in a hug. "I missed you guys so much."

"You are always welcome here," Percy says. 

"Even if you need to pop over, vent for ten minutes, and turn right back around," Vex adds. She remembers clearly the time when Keyleth's teleportation was the upper limit of her magical skill, but now it's nothing to cross continents in seconds.

Keyleth sighs. "I might take you up on that."

"Let's get you to the others and get you a drink," Vex says. "I have a nice shiraz with your name on it."

"Ooh," Keyleth says, letting Vex steer her away. "I have to tell you about this new brandy we're making. We have these hard green fruits…"

And with that, the band is back together.Vex feared what it might be like, that they might have fallen away from each other so quickly. She's seen Pike and Grog in the past months, as Pike did a last sweep of the Slayer's Cake before handing off the day-to-day operations to Vex, but the six of them haven't been together since their mission to retrieve Grog's soul. In the back of Vex's mind is the fear that they never really had anything in common but the adventuring life, that their fraternity is something that's behind them permanently. 

But when they all slip off to Vex's house, taking over her sitting room and passing around copious amounts of drink, all doubts slip from Vex's mind. It's so easy to fall back into it, even with a Vax-shaped hole. These people are her family, and she should have known a thing like distance wouldn't make them fall apart.

"So why are you doing this?" Pike asks, leaning on Grog with her feet in Scanlan's lap.

"Because they're nasty," Scanlan says, and Pike kicks him lightly in the thigh.

"I was asking about the ceremony in general, not just the public sex," Pike says. She turns back to Vex. "It's okay if you're nasty, though. We won't tell."

"The Champion represents the Dawnfather, and their chosen represents Whitestone," Percy says. "It's about the Dawnfather bestowing his blessing of fertility on the land and its people."

"So the Dawnfather is nasty," Grog says.

"Maybe a little," Percy admits.

"I'm okay with it if this doesn't become a trend," Keyleth says, gesturing with her wine. "I didn't tell anyone in Zephrah the specifics."

"You've had the good sense to stay away from gods," Percy says. "It'll serve you well."

"I thought that was your thing too," Scanlan says.

"This is not a test of my religious devotion," Percy says. "It's a nobility thing."

"It's a Vex thing," Grog says. "Nobles weasel out of the hard stuff."

"Touche," Percy says, putting his arm around Vex's shoulders.

"No offense," Pike says belatedly.

"Weaseling out of things is a fine family tradition," Percy says, waving a hand at her.

Keyleth looks outside at the darkening sky. "Don't you guys have a dress rehearsal?"

"Right, shit," Vex says, slamming the rest of her wine and standing up.

"She's beauty, she's grace," Scanlan says.

"She'll punch you in the face," Percy says, standing and dusting himself off. "Feel free to keep drinking and talking shit about us. We'll be back."

"Have fun," Pike says.

"Not too much," Vex says. "This is only a rehearsal."

Vex is a little tipsy when she and Percy make their way to the temple for their walkthrough of the ceremony. As usual, the temple looks odd to her when it's not sunlit, its candles not enough to illuminate the many stained glass panels that Cassandra has spent a small fortune replacing. There are floral garlands and arrangements of fruits being hung by acolytes and hired hands, still in the stage of decoration that means everything is a mess.

One gauzy curtain hangs between the altar and the congregation, and Vex is insulted by it somehow. She can clearly see everything through it, and she wonders what the point of it even is.

Then Vex remembers Percy's sister has to be in attendance, and she decides not to press the matter. If they need a literal layer of remove, she won't interfere.

Keeper Yennen is waiting, and Vex is oddly disappointed by how quick and clinical his description of the ceremony is. All the hard work is on his end, blessings and speeches, and rather than running through them, he basically just tells them the two sentences they need to say, what door to come through, and when they should fuck. It's surreal how mundane he makes it all sound, and in the space of twenty minutes everything is squared away.

"Are we really going to go through with this?" Vex asks, as she and Percy walk back to their house.

"This all stops here if it's not what you want," Percy says seriously. He takes her hand. "But if you're willing, I am too."

"I just-" She falters. "I feel like I have to- not because anyone's forcing me to do it, but because I owe it to, to-" She waves a hand. "I don't know. To Whitestone. To the Dawnfather."

"I won't insult your intelligence and tell you there's nothing riding on this," he says. "You're nobility, and you do owe things to your people. You do owe things to the Dawnfather. Today what they want is a bit out there, but they will never stop asking."

"I don't want them to stop," Vex admits. "I- when you gave me a title, I know it was to prove a point, but I want to be needed by Whitestone. I want to give them everything I have and see my work bear fruit."

Percy takes her into his arms. "Then giving you that title was the best thing I could have possibly done for this city," he says. "But if we're being perfectly honest with ourselves, yes, you do have to go through with the ceremony."

"Then I suppose that's what I'll do," she says.

Vex sleeps fitfully that night, which doesn't surprise her. Percy is tossing and turning too, but she doesn't let on that she knows he's awake. She could get up, perhaps sit with Trinket or see if Keyleth is awake, but she needs a little quiet space to herself; she knows she won't be getting it tomorrow. 

The morning dawns, and Vex eats breakfast with the rest of Vox Machina before going with Percy to the temple. She swears it's lighter inside than she's ever seen it before, like the sun is stronger overhead. The decorations are now finished, and the place looks resplendent; she wonders briefly if this is what it would have looked like for their wedding. Then again, today is just about as joined as they're going to get.

People are already beginning to arrive for the mid-morning ceremony, and Vex and Percy are ushered to separate side rooms. Everything Vex will need is already waiting there, but that only amounts to her ceremonial robe. Hers is lavender and grey, the back adorned with the symbol of the Dawnfather, surrounded by six stars, one larger than the others. Vex runs her fingers over it; in all her life, she never thought she'd be represented by heraldry, made part of the fabric of a lineage.

She undresses and dons the robe, letting her hair down and arranging it so that it fans out across the back of the robe, above the crest. There's noise coming through the door, the sounds of the audience gathering and chattering; she hears Grog's laugh cut through it once or twice. She focuses on the robe to distract herself, an old trick. It's heavy and too warm for the room, but she won't have to worry about it for too much longer.

Vex startles when there's a knock on the door, and Cassandra enters without being invited. Vex knows her well enough now to recognize that her outfit is carefully chosen, displaying wealth and power by means of panels of tiny, precise embroidery rather than gems or gold. She doesn't stand out, because this isn't her day, but she could never be mistaken for someone who couldn't throw her weight around. Vex appreciates Cassandra more than she thinks Cassandra realizes, but she doesn't think Cassandra would hear that if Vex tried to say it.

"Well," Cassandra says. "I suppose it's almost time for the-" The pause there is brief but expressive- "ceremony."

For this one tiny moment on this one day, Vex lets herself be glad for the first, and maybe only, time that Vax isn't here with her. Dancing around one sibling is more than enough.

"I wouldn't take it as an insult if you looked away," Vex says.

"I think if I look at the crest in the window on the opposite wall, I should get through alright," Cassandra says. She looks contemplative for a moment, choosing her words. "Thank you," she says finally. "You didn't have to do this."

"It's not nearly the most ridiculous thing I've ever done," Vex says. "But if I have to take my clothes off for Whitestone, I'll do it."

"It's less unsettling for me if you just stick to calling it that," Cassandra says.

Vex walks over, giving Cassandra a hug. Cassandra is only an occasional hugger, but this time she accepts it. "Close your eyes and pretend you're overcome with emotion," Vex says. "Maybe try for a single tear."

"That's a good one," Cassandra says. "I'll remember that."

There's a knock on the door, and one of the acolytes pops her head in. "Lady Cassandra, it's time."

"I'll take my place," Cassandra says. "Good luck."

When Cassandra is gone, Vex rolls her neck and stretches out her arms. The acolyte is still standing there, and through the open door Vex can hear when the ceremony starts, Keeper Yennen chanting in Celestial. The chant is over sooner than Vex is ready for, and the acolyte motions to her.

It's time.

Keeper Yennen is still speaking, but Vex can't seem to hear anything above the rushing in her ears. She has to keep her head up as she walks to the front of temple, but that means she's looking out over the crowd. There are maybe seventy people here, but it might as well be a thousand for the way Vex's heart is beating out of her chest.

She lets none of her fear show, each step deliberate as she approaches. After an age of walking, she kneels next to Percy in front of Keeper Yennen, the material of her robe gathering around her knees on the sun-warmed stone floor. In the shafts of colored light from the windows, there's a haze of incense smoke, and Vex has the wild worry that the curtain will catch fire. It lightens things for her, the humor in it easing her tension the slightest bit.

"Who are you?" the Keeper asks.

Vex puts her shoulders back, pitching her voice to fill the room. "I am Vex'ahlia de Rolo, the Champion of the Dawnfather, his strength made mortal, the force of his will."

"Be his instrument," Keeper Yennen says, sweeping his thumb over her forehead and leaving a streak of yellow paint. "Who have you chosen?"

"Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the Third, the Sophist of Native Ingenuity," Vex replies, adding in a softer voice, "who keeps my heart."

"Let the Dawnfather's light fill you," he says, leaving the same yellow mark on Percy. He raises his hands, and Vex and Percy both stand. They separate, walking around either side of the curtain and taking their positions.

Keeper Yennen lifts his hands higher, looking up. "This is our covenant," he says. "We give of our people to your Champion, to beg your blessing upon us."

He steps away, walking to one side of the room, and Vex knows it's now or never. In one motion she doffs her robe, leaving it in a pool on the floor. There's no turning back, too much invested now, so she strides towards the altar to meet Percy, who has removed his own robe and tossed it aside. She almost laughs, remembering the bet Scanlan and Grog had about whether all of Percy's hair was white; if either of them even remember it, Scanlan needs to pay up.

Neither of them speak as Percy arranges himself on the altar, flat on his back. Vex is relieved to see that he's half-hard; she couldn't have blamed him if he couldn't get it up, but everything will go so much smoother if he can give her that. It takes both of them to get Vex onto the altar too, straddling Percy's thighs for the moment, the stone surface only just wide enough to accommodate both of them.

"Hey," she says, brushing his hair away from his forehead, fingers lingering.

"Are you ready for this?" he asks softly, his hands running up her sides before settling at her waist.

"Of course not," she says. "But I'm about to do it anyway."

"That's the spirit," he says.

"Now let's get you into the spirit," she says, wrapping her hand around his cock and stroking it.

"I'll give it my best," Percy says. Vex bites her lip as he slides his hand between her legs and rubs her clit; it's just like him to worry about her pleasure even in the midst of all this. She's starting to get wet, and it's a relief that this is probably going to work mechanically speaking. It was not a guarantee. That's one thing not to worry about, when she has more than a few.

When Vex figures things are as good as they're going to get, she kneels up, lining herself up with Percy so she can take him, pushing down onto his cock. The sooner this is over with, the better, so she starts moving quickly, not wasting time with a slow buildup.

"It's okay," Percy says softly, putting his hands on her hips to slow her. 

Vex realizes then that all of her muscles are tensed, that she's holding herself so stiffly that her shoulders hurt. "Sorry," she says, forcing herself to relax, slowing her movements just a bit.

"Just concentrate," he says.

"On what?" Vex says.

"Whatever you find useful," Percy replies, which is a very Percy answer. 

"Okay," Vex says. "Okay. I can do this."

"You're already doing it," he says.

Vex tries to relax, closing her eyes as she thinks of a distraction. Percy is right there underneath her, and she never tires of looking at him, especially when he's laid out for her to touch. Her thoughts keep slipping away instead; they turn back to the Dawnfather, seated on his throne, so distant and so close, untouchable and radiant.

She lets herself speed up a little more, rubbing her clit. This is all for the Dawnfather, and that makes it easier somehow. She's proven herself to him once, and somehow she'd known that wouldn't be it. All the things she's ever had, she's had to fight to keep; the idea that his favor is one of them is somehow comforting, familiar.

"That's it," Percy says encouragingly, and Vex's thoughts are drawn back to him. But that's for the Dawnfather too; she's offered herself up, but she's also given him Percy, whether Percy sees it that way or not. She guards Percy jealously, which is just how he likes it, but now she's giving even their most intimate moments as tribute to the Dawnfather. 

She doesn't know if it makes her a good adherent or not that this is making things easier for her; it feels both like sacrilege and the deepest devotion she could show. She's taking Percy quickly now, and he's meeting her, giving her as much as she's giving him. She prays without words, just hopes her god can understand what she's trying to say with her body.

And Vex sees it before she feels it; a soft glow starts to play at the sides of Percy's face, building gradually until all of him is limned with yellow-white light. She looks down at herself, and it's covering her too, bathing her in the same glow. It's only then that she starts to feel it, warmth suffusing her, starting at her skin and sinking in. The places where her skin touches Percy's get hotter and hotter, until it's like Percy is a flame and she's going to burn herself.

"Keep going," Percy says urgently. "Don't stop."

Vex feels the same exhilaration she did when she was racing to the top of the Dawnfather's tower, and she knows she can't stop, can't even slow down for a second. Nothing about this feels inevitable, almost as if she couldn't trace her life to this moment, but this is what she's grabbed with her two mortal hands, the favor of a god and the favor of a city. She'll push herself to her very limits to keep both of them.

On the very edges of her perception, she can hear the audience in the temple, but as the light continues to grow, spreading out from their bodies and rising up into the sky, they become muted and then disappear entirely. Vex keeps working her hips, clutching Percy tightly as everything falls away, until she can see nothing but Percy and the altar in the shaft of light they occupy.

"A little more, darling," Vex says breathlessly. "We're almost there, just a little farther now."

"Where are we going?" Percy asks, his hands curled around her hips and holding tight.

Vex laughs. "I have no idea."

Percy rocks up into her faster, and Vex braces herself, one hand flat on his chest for support. With the other, she fumbles for Percy, pulling one of his hands away from her skin and lacing their fingers together. She feels like she'll lose him if she doesn't, like they could fly away from each other in this space, even as it feels like they're so hot they'll just melt together, be commingled and lose themselves. As far as Vex knows, maybe that's what they've been moving towards all along.

Even with everything that's happening, she's getting closer to her orgasm. She can tell Percy is too, the way his movements have gotten less precise, more hurried. She nods at him, open-mouthed, and Percy looks up at her with bright, wide eyes, even though he's staring into the white-hot light that surrounds them. Vex finds that she can't close her eyes, doesn't even want to blink if it means missing an instant. She's so close she can taste it; she's so hot her skin is prickling with it, but she can't stop, has to push on and on and on and right to the pinnacle.

A sourceless wind picks up around them, and drifting from nowhere come delicate blue and lavender and white blooms, matching ones she remembers from the Dawnfather's vast orchards. She squeezes Percy's hand as tight as she can, still moving, still striving. She feels a presence over her shoulder, but something keeps her from looking directly at it.

 _Well done, my Champion,_ the Dawnfather says into her ear, and Vex comes, her head dropping back as she cries out. It rolls through her, peak after peak, and she loses herself inside it, like the curl of a wave. The only anchor she has is Percy, his fingers in hers, the way his cock pulses within her as he spends himself. There is nothing but Percy and the Dawnfather, nothing but the feeling coursing through her, the sense of satisfaction that is far, far more than sexual. She has earned this, every last bit of it, and she'll go to any lengths to maintain it.

When Vex comes to, she's resting on Percy's chest, still on the altar. She's drenched with sweat, and Percy is not much better off. A purple flower is caught in his hair, but she leaves it there, not even sure if it will be corporeal if she touches it. The light is gone, the heat of the Dawnfather's embrace, and Vex is left chilled and blinking.

"Are you alright?" she asks Percy softly.

"Ask me again after I try to get up," he replies.

Vex gingerly pushes herself up; this must cue the two acolytes on either side of the room, because they both come to help her to her feet, slipping her robe onto her shoulders. They help Percy next, as he stiffly climbs off the hard stone. Once he's up and robed, he and Vex stand before the altar, facing the audience, and Vex slips her hand into Percy's.

There is a moment of silence, but before anything else can be said, Scanlan starts a slow clap. For little gnomish hands, they're quite loud, and naturally Pike and Grog join in too. This starts a chain reaction, and soon Vex and Percy are being roundly applauded for their performance.

"I don't think that was on the program," Vex says.

"Just go with it," Percy tells her. "I believe we've earned it."

Vex feels the warmth of the sun through the windows and resists the urge to bow.

\--

It's not exactly nine months to the day; that would be very poetic, but pregnancies run long and short more than they run on time. But Vex takes one look at their child, with his pale blue eyes and his wisps of blond hair, and knows for certain when he was conceived. 

"I'm not doing that again for the next one," she tells Percy.

"Agreed," he says. "I think we've done our duty."

"I'll keep doing what the Dawnfather asks," she says with conviction. "But let's hope he's gotten his fill of this one."

"Fine by me," Percy says, kissing their baby on the forehead, and Vex doesn't regret a thing.


End file.
